Dark Time
by NikS1nnoman
Summary: When gateways to the past start opening up across modern day Britain it's up to Professor Nick Cutter and his...team...to study both the portals and...whatever comes through. But what if something had been spat out of a different portal?((Rated M to be on the safe side; a crossover with The Dark Series; the writer only owns characters not mentioned in cannon TV/books)).
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue_

It was because of the storm that the events in the forest went unnoticed. If anyone had been outside they would have said the flashing light was lightning, the loud noises were thunder, wind and debris being flung about. They weren't wrong, but they weren't exactly right either; there was something more than a mere storm rolling through the Forest of Dean. If anyone had been crazy enough to go outside, they would have seen the fierce battle taking place, barely masked by nature's display of power.

It wasn't long before the fight was over. As always, there was only one victor. Through from the amount of injuries sustained, and the lives that had been lost in the process, the victory was a hollow one. With blood loss becoming more of an issue with every second that passed, the victor had to use what was available to wipe the scars of battle from the landscape. Lightning struck the ground, fire breaking out despite the heavy rain. Burning wildly, it was nonetheless contained by the somewhat trembling hand of the victor, covering only the ground where the battle had taken place, burning away all traces of the fight. The body of the deceased opponent was hit by bolt after bolt of lightning until nothing remained but a pile of ash, whipped away by the forceful wind along with the remains from the fires, finally extinguished by the rain. All that remained was a charred landscape, although if anyone had been there to witness the events that had taken place, they would have noticed that small buds were already starting to push up through the soil, trees were sprouting and the grass was beginning to grow.

With a soft, weary exhale of bone-aching relief, the victor sank to the ground. Their body was actually enveloped by the soil, the torn form sinking deeper into the earth with each passing minute. By the time the storm had finally blown itself out, nothing remained of the fight, and there was no evidence that anyone had ever set foot in that part of the forest.

Only a few miles away from the site, the gentle, practically unnoticeable pulsing of air finally ceased. The sounds of cars, airplanes and general city noises finally ceased. For in this part of the world, none of that existed. Nor would it, not at that level, for at least another two hundred or so years. For the two figures who had been fighting had fallen, not that they had realised it at the time, through a rip, a tear in reality. But, as the figure would come to discover upon rising in a few months, it wasn't just a jump into the past that had occurred; it had truly been a gateway into another reality, an alternate universe.

Another one.

* * *

_Chapter One_

For once the sun was shining. Granted it was also extremely cloudy and windy, but the sun was still shining goddamnit. There were also dozens of tourists to contend with, which were nearly as bad as mosquitoes. Del sighed heavily, shaded eyes glaring at the crowds from behind a pair of aviator glasses. Scratch that, they were worse than mosquitos, with their constant questions and camera flashes. The noise and the litter left behind were nightmares to deal with too. With another sigh Del turned back to the latest piece uncovered, a set of prints dating back to the Cretaceous Period. Currently it was unknown what the exact date of the fossils were, that would be determined further down the line. For now they were simply uncovering them. Or they would be, if not for the incessant distractions.

Del's site supervisor, an old grad student by the name of Elias Drake, jumped down into the newest trench and saw the direction his boss' gaze. He looked at the crowds and snorted slightly, shaking his head.

"You ever gonna get over them?" His voice was soft, but still managed to carry over the wind to his employer.

"I highly doubt it. What do they think they are going to see, the complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus? They would be better off going to London for that."

Eli grinned at the familiar rant. "It's exciting. There hasn't been a dig here in several years, and not on this part of the island. And the interest can't harm our image." A shrug was his only reply and he sighed slightly. "C'mon Del, just ignore them. They're not exactly hurting us or the dig are they." It wasn't a question.

"No I guess not. Whoever thought those films were a good idea though need to be shot." Eli laughed, though he was never sure if it was merely idle talk or a veiled threat. There was always something a little…primal…about his boss. Still, he shrugged it off as they both knelt down at the fossils, trowels and brushes in hand, to help the research and grad students taking part in the dig.

* * *

Several hours later Eli straightened up, groaning slightly as his back clicked several times. He rubbed the back of his hand across his eyes and glanced down at his boss, shaking his head. No matter how many digs they went on together, he was always amazed at the stamina of his leader. Once Del started a project everything else ceased to exist other than the task at hand. Oblivious to everything and everyone around them, Del would excavate for hours without a break. It never ceased to amuse him.

Stretching his neck Eli glanced up to the barriers, keeping away the people who had come to gawk at the first dig on the Isle of Wight in thirty years. How Del had managed to secure the funding and permits he would never know, but they had never been turned down. The sun had finally been driven behind the clouds and the wind had picked up, the temperature dropping. It had driven most of the observers away, although there were a few that remained. Eli's eyes narrowed in on two people, a man and a woman, who were watching him intently and he frowned. The man seemed familiar, but he couldn't think for the life of him where he had seen him before.

Briefly he contemplated trying to get Del's attention, then instantly dismissed the thought; it would be easier to make a stone bleed. He could have gone up himself, but when he turned his attention back to the pair they had already moved off. Shrugging slightly he turned back to his work, keeping an ear open to the soft conversations from the other workers, just in case someone needed help. Even so, he was oblivious to the approach of a senior grad student, Brad Henshaw, until a throat was cleared right behind him. Eli dropped his brush and stood up, turning around and wiping dust off his hands as he did so. Brad shrugged slightly at him in apology. "These people are here to see…" but before he could finish he was cut off by the man behind him, the same one Eli had spotted earlier.

"…You, Dr Jackson. We were wondering if you would be able to help us with a query. This is my…colleague, Abby Maitland and I'm Professor Nick Cutter." The blonde-haired man held out a hand to Eli.

"Well whatever it is had better be both quick and extremely important, seeing as you are trespassing on my dig."

Eli couldn't contain the grin upon seeing the visitor's reactions to the voice of his boss. It wasn't the first time this had happened and he had been mistaken for the Doctor, but by God, it never got old.

* * *

Abby wasn't sure what he had expected when they had finally arrived at the dig. She was a zookeeper for crying out loud, and worked with lizards. Not bugs, not elephant dung (eww), and certainly not what looked like something out of prehistory. Now this…anomaly (she truly couldn't think of a better word for it) along with the scaly visitors almost guaranteed she wasn't going back to the zoo anytime soon (though she was pretty certain she wouldn't have been staying there for much longer anyway.) In fact, it was because of the anomaly they had decided to seek out advice from the reclusive Dr D. Jackson. The doctor seldom held lectures, leaving that to other colleagues or an assistant so she had been expecting to be meeting a gentleman in his mid-sixties, based on the information the Home Office had reluctantly dug up for them. Nick and Abby were making a quick detour to visit the Doctor on their way back to Gloucestershire.

So to be led to someone who looked like he was only slightly older than Conner or herself was more than a little confusing. There was no way this could be the Doctor they were after, she was too young to have such a reputation. But that confusion was swept aside into pure disbelief when Abby heard the answer to Nick's question. The glance they shared confirmed that Nick was feeling just as bewildered by the whole situation. The kid was sporting a shit-eating grin and stepped to one side, revealing a person kneeling on the ground behind him. All Abby could see was a pair of mud-caked boots, worn jeans, a dust-covered jacket, and the back of an old Outback hat (wow, she wanted that hat). There was no way that voice belonged to that figure.

But low and behold, as the silence continued (neither Abby nor Nick could honestly think of anything to say) the figure stood with a huff and turned around, removing a pair of aviators' and the hat to reveal…an absolutely breath-taking woman. Dimly she heard the man who had stood up to greet them stifling a laugh and, for about the tenth time in 24 hours, wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Nick was the first to recover. Clearing his throat he held out his hand again. "My apologies, I was led to believe D stood for…"

"Del," the woman interrupted him somewhat impatiently. "You are correct. It's short for Della. Now tell me what you need so I can get you off of my site as soon as possible."

* * *

Della couldn't be sure what had driven her to excavate in Whitecliff Bay on the Isle of Wight, but something had drawn her there. That along with the readings RIC was receiving from the area (granted she didn't have him when she had first arrived), but the conditions of the past few weeks had been exactly the same as when she had first landed in this universe. Her memories, whilst retaining the fight that had been taking place at the time, were also of a storm that was not of her making, nor was it created by her opponent. It was like an influx of different energies had hit one another, creating the vortex that had spat her out into this world.

Energies similar to what she could remember had sprung up along the south coast of Britain a few months ago, and ever since then she had been fighting to gain the permits to excavate. She'd gone over the area the energies had covered and found nothing…on the surface anyway. Underground however, was a different story.

And she hadn't been disappointed. Three weeks into the excavation and they were uncovering more finds than several of her colleagues' digs put together. And not all of the fossils and skeletons were from this world, she was sure of it. In fact, the one she was currently working on looked very familiar indeed, much to her amusement, and slight trepidation.

Which was why she was beyond pissed off to be interrupted. Why could these sodden people not get the hint? She was not known as a people person for crying out loud, for a very specific reason. Not that anyone besides herself and RIC knew what that reason was.

Della pushed back her hat back on and stuffed her glasses into a pocket whilst staring at the intruders. Internally she felt the smallest hint of satisfaction at their reaction to her identity, one of the two reasons she never made it apparent she was female. But it did little to mask the irritation she was feeling; these footprints were the whole reason she had engineered the dig in the first place. She raised an eyebrow as the visitors glanced at each other somewhat uncertainly and restrained herself from sighing heavily. "Professor Cutter, as you can see I really am very busy, and our light is starting to go. What can I help you with?" And Elias had said just that morning she didn't know the meaning of the word diplomacy. How little he knew.

Cutter cleared his throat, glancing around briefly. "Is there somewhere a bit more…private, where we can talk?"

Della heard Elias attempt to smother a laugh. Gritting her teeth (really, this whole idea of diplomacy was beyond overrated) she threw down the brush in her hand and turned around, stepping out of the trench and walking over to a nearby tent. She didn't need to look behind her to know that Cutter and the woman (Abby did he say) were scrambling to keep up and, because she was feeling particularly vindictive (and possibly a little bit petty), sped up a little more. She brushed into the tent and gestured for the two techs inside to leave, which bless them they did without question. She toed a chair out from under a desk and sat down, throwing her hat on the bench as she did so. "I suggest you bloody well start talking."

* * *

There was an icy hint to the woman's, Dr Jackson's, voice, that sent a shiver down Nick's spine. He refused to show how unsettled he was by the young woman (she looked the same age as Stephan, how could she have the reputation she held?) and dove in with his first question. "What do you know of the Permian period, Dr Jackson, specifically the later part?"

He saw her raise an eyebrow, no doubt confounded as to why a professor of his reputation would be asking a fellow expert such a simple question, but she answered nonetheless, spitting out facts like she was reading them off of a page.

"A geologic period that spanned 47 million years, it preceded the Triassic period and was the last period of the Paleozoic era. The concept of the period was introduced back in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison; he named it after the city of Perm. During the Permian period the world was dominated by two continents – the Pangaea and Siberia, which were surrounded by a global ocean named Panthalassa. The collapse of the Carboniferous rainforest created vast deserts which stood at the continental interior. Beings that were able to cope better with the dried conditions were called amniotes rose to dominance in place of their amphibian ancestors. Probably the most note-worthy event in the period was the Permian-Triassic extinction event. The largest recorded mass extinction event in the history of the planet, nearly 96% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species were wiped out, and it took around 30 million years for ecosystems on land to recover. Probably one of the few times when the planet was under rather than over-populated."

A ghost of a grin crossed the doctor's face as she finished talking, before she leant down and opened a cooler, throwing them each a bottle of water before taking one for herself. She swallowed a mouthful of water before screwing the top back on. "But that wasn't the question you wanted me to answer was it, Professor Cutter. You already know all of that information."

The note of irritation was still evident in her voice, warning Nick her patience was wearing thin. He shrugged slightly, then was instantly worried he may have just come across as patronising. "Just had to make sure. Do you know what creatures would have been around then?"

The woman, Dr Jackson, Del, Della (what the hell was he supposed to call her?) rolled her eyes and began to speak again. From the tone of her voice, Nick was suspecting she was merely humouring him. "Gorgonopsians and Dicynodonts were the more advanced creatures around in the late Permian period. There were also Diictodons, Dimetrodons, Therocephalians and Pareiasaurs just to name a few others. That's not including the insects that would have been around too."

Nick exchanged a glance with Abby, nodding slightly. This was definitely the person they had come to see. Now how to go around the slightly more difficult part of their enquiry. Nick was well aware of Claudia and Lester's concerns about bringing more people in, and the security issues, but in his eyes, having creatures from millions of years ago wandering around in the English countryside was far more important. With that in mind, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dove into his images.

"What would you say created this footprint?" He found the right picture and handed the phone to her. There was a moment's hesitation before she took the phone from his hand; for a second her fingertips brushed his hand and he was shocked at how cold her hand was. But he didn't comment, simply withdrew his hand and let her study the picture. "Sorry, I know the picture isn't great."

Dr Jackson lifted a shoulder slightly in the resemblance of a shrug and took a close look at the picture. He saw her frown a little before she looked back up at him.

"That was made by a Scutosaurus. The round foot shows an equal proportion of weight which was distributed under the whole body, along with the stubby toes. Fossils like this have only been found in Russia though, and in far worse conditions. I'd even go so far as to say it was a fresh track. Where the hell did you find it?"

Her interest was evident. Abby tensed slightly beside him but Nick gestured for the doctor to move to the next picture. He already knew it wasn't the same creature but he couldn't be certain what exactly it was. "And the other picture?" She raised an eyebrow at his complete dismissal of her question but nonetheless flicked to the next picture. Her eyes instantly widened and she looked up at him in something akin to alarm.

"A Gorgonop? This was one of the main predators that would have resided in modern southern Africa. It was suited to the warm climates. The only similarity to the Scutosaurus is the legs supported the body from below rather than to the sides. This creature is similar to modern panthers, once it gets a hint of blood its patient, would stalk its prey for hours, days if need be. Their kills would be stored in trees and they were one of the fastest creatures of the period." Without waiting she scrolled to the next picture again. Her eyes widened even further at the picture. It was clearly the imprint of both animals, one overlapping the other. She looked slowly up at Nick. "Where the hell were these pictures taken?"

* * *

_I would just like to point out that I have no clue about the different species of pre-historic creatures other than what I have seen in the Jurassic films. All creatures mentioned in this story have come from Wikipedia and Primeval's Wiki page. Some of them did exist, others did not. They are not my creation, I only own the original characters. _


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer:_ I own neither Primeval or The Dark Series. I'm only borrowing characters.

_Note:_ This chapter isn't as long, but I wanted to upload it now because it ended in quite a good spot. I also have no idea how long the following chapters will be, or when I will upload the next chapter.

* * *

_Chapter Two_

Della strode out of the tent, her mind spinning at a thousand miles a minute. She had heard a lot of crazy things over the years, hell she had seen things that no one would ever believe. But this, this truly was beyond insane.

Then again, what happened to her over the years were beyond insane. She stopped walking at the edge of the dig, looking out across the sea, biting her lip and her mind in a turmoil. If what these men were saying was true, it would change everything. Their theories were possible, there was no reason for them not to be, but why? Why was it happening, and why now? And why was this situation any different? She ran a hand through her hair in frustration, why the bloody hell did this have to happen now?

She heard Elias making his way over to her and she fought to supress a smile. She did have a reputation to uphold after all, even if he did seem to see through it. They stood side by side for a while, watching the sea, although both were aware of the dig winding up for the day behind them. Eventually Elias broke the silence, clearing his throat before speaking quietly.

"You're leaving, aren't you."

It wasn't quite a question, and Della knew she didn't need to answer, but she respected him too much to stay quiet.

"Yes. Something has come up in Professor Cutter's work and he has…asked for my help." It was mostly the truth. Della saw Elias hesitate before nodding out of the corner of her eye. "You will be fine here. Everyone looks up to you already. You are a far better leader than I am."

Elias finally looked up at his mentor and boss, shock evident on his face. "Me? But, Del…"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand, turning to look at her former student. "There is a reason I have always made you my site supervisor. You are the only one I trust. And you are far smarter than all of those philistines who said I was mad to hire a mere student. Just make sure that they are not allowed to wear you down. And you can always call me should you need help or advice, although I am sure you will not need either one." Della grinned at him. "You will be fine Eli."

Elias couldn't help but laugh; in all their years together, from merely teacher and student to colleagues and friends Del had always called him by his full name, and never the nickname everyone else, even his own family, used. Which was odd, considering she insisted no one ever use her full name. A cheeky grin crossed his face, resulting in a raised eyebrow. "If you say so…Adeline."

He dodged the slap heading his way and started making his way up to the last few stragglers, pausing to look over his shoulder and ask his mentor one final question. "Your two visitors…they've already left, do they know you're going to help them?" He had a feeling Del was up to something, that she was being tricksy. Again.

There was a pause before Del turned to look at him, a shit-eating grin crossing her face. "Of course not. I am going to let them stew for a while before swooping in to save the day." She turned back to the ocean, the sound of Elias' laughter echoing in her ears as he left the site.

She wasn't entirely joking though. If what Nick Cutter had said was indeed true, there were at least two creatures from a different time roaming around the English countryside, one of them a dangerous predator who would find humans both an easy and tasty meal. Adeline Jackson needed to get to the Forest of Dean, fast.

Belatedly, as she was driving to the ferry terminal to take her back to the mainland, the Forest of Dean was where everything started for her, in this world at least. Maybe this time, she would get an answer to the question she had been asking herself for centuries.

How the hell would she get back home?

* * *

"Do you really think that was a good idea?" Abby held off from firing questions at Nick until they were back in the jeep and actually driving on the mainland, heading through the city to the M27. She looked over to watch the man she had met barely 12 hours ago, fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly as he navigated the city traffic.

"She did confirm the second footprint for us. Can't say I'm overly happy though, a bloody Gorgonop running loose in the Forest of Dean. We need to let Stephen and Conner know." He fumbled around in his jacket pocket, feeling for his mobile whilst keeping one hand on the steering wheel. Eventually he pulled it out and flipped it open. "Let's hope they've got coverage where they are."

Abby grabbed the phone and started up a text. "You drive, I'll text. That way we won't get pulled over." She sent him a grin.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. A four hour journey back to the Forest of Dean, if they were lucky. Hopefully Stephen and Conner wouldn't have any mishaps, like run into the sodden Gorgonop. That would be very bad.

"Stephen's messaged back." Abby's voice cut across Nick's thoughts. "They haven't found anymore tracks, and are heading back to the anomaly. Apparently that's where the armed guys have set up a base." She snorted as she flipped the phone shut. "Idiots. What if the Gorgonop decides it wants to go home."

Nick knew it wasn't a question, but he answered nonetheless. "Bad. It would be bad."

The glanced at each other and Nick put his foot on the gas, the jeep speeding up. Neither of them noticed the black SUV following an equal distance behind them.

* * *

Overall it took them 3 hours to make a 4 hour journey, only because Nick broke practically every traffic rule, ignored the speed limits and they didn't stop for a break. Although neither of them said it, both himself and Abby were worried about the people they had left in Gloucestershire and wanted to get back to them as quickly as possible. And they had good reason to be worried; a group of armed men were getting ready to go through the anomaly and there was no sign of Stephen. According to Conner he'd been tracking the creature before they lost contact with him.

Eventually Nick managed to convince Claudia that the only person who was suitable to travel through the portal was himself; her two conditions were a time limit and a one-man armed escort by the name of Captain Tom Ryan. Nick had wanted to wait for Stephen, but they had no way of knowing how much longer the anomaly was going to be around for. So off he went, into the past, with a complete stranger carrying a loaded weapon. Fun times.

* * *

Whilst Nick went off on one of the strangest safaris to have ever occurred, Abby and Conner were filling each other in on what had happened over the past few hours. They were sitting slightly away from the main camp, careful to keep their voices low so as not to be overheard. Abby finished recounting their visit to the Isle of Wight and Conner let out a low whistle.

"I can't believe you met Dr Jackson. What was he like?"

Abby bit her lip hard, forcing herself not to laugh or even smile. The opportunity really was too good to miss. "Intense. What happened here?"

Conner grabbed a bottle of water and took a drink. "After you told us what the creature was I looked it up. The pictures of this thing are…well, I really hope whoever drew the picture got carried away. Anyway, Stephen decided to carry on tracking it by himself, apparently I was making too much noise. So I came back here just after that lot had started to arrive and were unpacking all this crap." He gestured around him to the temporary camp that had been set up. "So did they really make you sign the Official Secrets Act?"

Abby couldn't help by grin. "They tried. Nick tore his up and I perfected my basketball skills. Then Rex escaped and caused havoc in the building. It was fun."

Conner laughed, though it was half-hearted as he stared down at his phone. "Do you think I should try Stephen again?"

"How many times have you called him?" Abby's voice was soft, carrying a hint of concern.

"7 times. I haven't heard anything from him in hours." The University student looked up from his phone to the young zookeeper. "You don't think something's happened to him, do you?"

Abby bit her lip. "Depends."

Conner frowned. "On what?"

"On whether or not that creature's gone back home."

* * *

_Pick on someone your own size, what a great thing to say_, was the thought circling Stephen's mind as he ran through the school. His phone buzzed again for the umpteenth time but he was past noticing it. The good news was the Gorgonop was no longer trying to get to the kid. Bad news, it was now chasing Stephan. Who it was a lot faster than. And bigger. Much bigger.

But it didn't seem to like the fire extinguisher very much, which was a bonus. That was, up until it rammed its head into Stephen's body and sent him flying through the locked fire escape door. Stephan hit the ground hard and tumbled onto the grass, unconscious and with a nasty gash on his head that was already welling with blood. The creature caught the scent of the fresh blood and began stalking towards Stephen.

Of course _that_ was when a deep, guttural sound echoed from the depths of the forest. The prehistoric creature stilled, its head turning slowly in the direction the noise had travelled from. As the sound of the growl, because really there was nothing else it could be, the creature lowered itself down into a slight crouch. An answering growl ripped its way out of the Gorgonop's throat before it leapt into the forest, completely forgetting about the unconscious human lying defencelessly on the ground.

* * *

Stephen's unconscious state didn't last overly long. He came to thanks to the throbbing of his head. His eyes opened slightly before he squeezed them shut, agony ripping through his head as the light tore through his eyes and seared his brain. Although he was still plenty groggy Stephen knew he had a concussion, and that if he attempted to move it would result in two things – he would throw up and would also lose consciousness again. Although in all honesty it was entirely possible that he was going to lose consciousness again anyway – his hearing had taken on a tunnelling effect and he felt disconnected from his body.

There were three things that he was completely unaware of – he was laying sprawled out at the bottom of concrete steps that led into a school, the blood that was leaking from his head wound and collecting in a puddle underneath his body, and finally, there was a figure that had just knelt down next to him. It wasn't until fingers carded softly through his hair, parting it to see the wound that Stephen realised there was someone else with him. His eyes opened ever so slightly, but all he could see through the haze and blood clotting in his eyes was the dim outline of a figure. His tenuous hold on consciousness faltered and he faded into the darkness before his vision could clear, could make out the face of the woman kneeling above him.


End file.
